Export Promotion Council (EPC) and Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) through the Tea Directorate have joined hands to make a contribution to an effort that is going to transform SMEs in the tea sector.It has always been the desire and a long cherished dream by all, across the whole spectrum for Kenya to increase exports of value added teas, a sector that has for long been dominated by bulk tea exports in this country.

The journey towards realising that dream started on Tuesday June 27th 2017 when the EPC CEO and AFA Director General signed an EPC/Tea Directorate technical partnership agreement. The carefully crafted programme lays great emphasis on projecting the key attributes of the authentic Kenya tea so that the country can cut out a niche in the global market to enable consumers enjoy pure Kenyan tea.The beneficiaries of this partnership programme are set to go through a very rigorous and fully integrated programme that will encompass capacity building through instructive training workshops where they will be trained on critical areas to assist them appreciate and understand the export market access requirements, including consumer preferences and trends among other key insights of export trade.The workshops will be followed immediately with Onsite Company Coaching programmes whose activities will include the product specialists or trainers visiting the enterprises’ production sites for one on one coaching sessions to ensure the value addition and production processes conforms to the industry best practices. This is intended to facilitate production of market led export products. Follow ups will then be carried out by the technical team to ensure production process is handed in line with the standards already inculcated during the Onsite Coaching activities. As well as production and environment audit process by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) to facilitate the Enterprises achieve certification by KEBS for the mark of quality. ....read more...